Recession-Proof - a podcast by Ramp

Latest Episodes:

FinOps Today: Closing the Books on Season 1 May 12, 2022

Show notes

Listen to hear key takeaways from finance leaders on selecting the right tools, hiring for scale, and how to prioritize strategic initiatives.

Time Stamps:

1:00: Patti Kangwankij of Stripe on hiring for diversity of experience

1:49 Patti Kangwankij of Stripe on hiring leaders early

3:14 Artem Mashkov of SwagUp’s approach of people over product

5:16 Scott Orn of Kruze Consulting on prioritizing clients over systems

6:57 Jonah Remz of Capchase on the transition from Quickbooks to Netsuite

8:15 Jonah Remz on upscaling Capchase’s abilities in the FP&A space

9:34 Aron Susman of Ro on creating a culture of trust

11:19 Tom Egan of DivvyHomes on his career transition

12:06 Tom Egan on the importance of hiring for complimentary skills

13:46 Jeannie de Guzman of 1Password talks hiring for resilience

How Joe Garafalo is reimagining today’s finance tech stack May 05, 2022

Show notes

Mosaic co-founder Joe Garafalo speaks with Ramp's Head of Finance Alex Song about optimizing the modern finance stack.

Timestamps:
2:22 The genesis of Mosaic

5:21 Transitioning from old school tools to modern tech

8:29 Using content to drive sales

10:29 Where spreadsheets fall short

11:14 Mosaic’s target persona

13:01 How financial models drive more impactful business conversations

14:55 How Mosaic meets the challenge of servicing international customers

17:59 Why a controller should be your first finance hire

22:08 On the tools that help Mosaic succeed

26:19 What investor trends mean for companies

29:13 Why Mosaic keeps their pricing accessible and their tool visible

Why Aron Susman of Ro believes failure is the key to startup success Apr 28, 2022

Show notes

Aron Susman of Ro speaks with host Alex Song about the power of vulnerability and why he doesn't think an MBA is vital for advancing in finance.

Time Stamps:

1:17 The origins of Ro
5:16 How healthcare has evolved from an in person to online/at home experience
7:51 Aron on the real mandate of a CFO
19:25 The power of simplified communication
22:17 The benefits of remote work
25:22 Aron on asking for help, especially in leadership roles
26:17 Learning and growing from failure and mistakes
30:20 Empathy in the workplace
33:20 Implicit versus explicit costs
35:46 Aron on the growing into the role of a CFO and why your MBA isn’t the only path
38:58 How Aron is combating market volatility and current headwinds
39:56 On growing smarter not faster
43:36 How Covid grew Ro’s business and the acceptance on tele-medicine

How Mary Liu of Applied Intuition is betting on the future of in-office work Apr 21, 2022

Show notes

Mary Liu speaks to Alex Song about why Applied Intuition believes in working from the office 5x/week and why you should fundraise when you're in a position of power.

Time stamps:

Mary’s journey from capital markets to Applied Intuition: 1:15

About Applied Intuition: 3:04

Applied Intuition’s milestones: 6:15

What it was like to join as the first finance hire: 8:16

How Mary’s team is successful with only two people: 10:36

Which functions Mary thinks can be outsourced: 13:57

Key hires she plans to make in the near future: 17:45

What’s in Applied Intuition’s toolkit: 20:18

Applied Intuition’s back to office policy: 24:40

The real reason some companies fail: 29:31

What’s currently top of mind for Mary: 34:24

Why she believes everyone is a recruiter: 38:01

How Josh Reeves is navigating supply chain snarls and inflation to help Walther Farms achieve finance-led growth Apr 14, 2022

Show notes

Josh Reeves speaks to Alex Song about supply chain snarls and how he's rethinking his inventory process.

Show notes

Similarities between technology and business: 1:50

Walther Farms’ typical customer: 5:06

Doing finance/accounting for a farm vs other industries: 7:21

Why agriculture has been hit especially hard by supply chain issues: 9:18

How Josh protects his business against inflation: 11:39

How his team has reconsidered inventory in the last few years: 12:12

The advantage of diverse locations: 13:46

How Josh’s finance team is organized: 15:49

The systems that his team depends on: 19:15

The average breakdown of his finance team’s responsibilities: 22:41

Why Josh is excited about the future of regenerative ag: 25:44

How Patti Kangwankij of Stripe successfully made the leap from investment banking to a SaaS rocketship Apr 07, 2022

Show notes

Alex speaks with Patti Kangwankij about how she successfully transitioned from investment banking to a SaaS rocketship and how she manages to think long-term while working in such a fast-paced environment.

Time stamps:

Patti’s journey from corporate finance/M&A to Stripe: 0:51

How her operational cadence changed moving from JP Morgan to Stripe: 7:37

The early days of Stripe’s finance team: 10:33

How a focus on diversity can benefit your team: 16:35

Patti’s day-to-day responsibilities: 20:41

Patti’s thoughts on product finance: 22:56

How her team engages in long-term planning: 28:36

Some of her favorite vendors and software: 33:20

Stripe’s focus this year: 37:16

How Artem Mashkov of SwagUp is investing in FinOps for a competitive edge Mar 31, 2022

Show notes

Alex speaks with Artem Mashkov about how he’s structured his finance team and why he places a high priority on FinOps.

Time stamps:

How SwagUp is funded: 4:58

Artem’s background: 5:59

How his first business survived two recessions and COVID-19: 7:27

Why being fully remote puts all employees on equal footing: 13:02

How SwagUp’s finance team is structured: 15:46

Artem’s view of the FinOps landscape: 17:13

Why efficiency in FinOps is so important: 18:38

How his team has been able to grow with Ramp: 28:05

The importance of financial education for employees: 31:01

Why the employee is always right: 35:00

How Tom Egan of DivvyHomes focused on FinOps to achieve high-velocity growth Mar 24, 2022

Show notes

Alex speaks with Tom Egan, CFO and Head of Capital Markets at DivvyHomes, about how he built out his finance team and how he's managing their FinOps function.

Time Stamps:

Tom’s journey to Divvy: 1:22

How DivvyHomes works, and the user journey: 6:02

Where DivvyHomes operates: 9:58

How Tom built out the finance function: 11:06

How the finance team operates today: 16:11

What Tom spends most of his time on today: 20:50

How DivvyHomes manages its FinOps: 23:22

How Tom’s team handles LLCs: 26:58

Potential areas of improvement: 31:18

The value of starting your audit early: 34:18

Whether call options are accounted for on their balance sheets: 36:26

How Scott Orn of Kruze prioritized his own systems to better serve clients Mar 17, 2022

Show notes

Alex speaks with Scott Orn about the importance of truly valuing your own systems and the most critical skill for a founder to have.

Time Stamps:

Scott’s journey to Kruze: 2:09

Kruze’s product lines: 5:12

Kruze’s typical client profile: 7:07

When Scott and Vanessa finally brought in a CFO internally: 10:01

The most important thing for a founder to do well: 13:11

Why legacy cards aren’t the right fit for founders: 16:16

Big 4 vs regional firm audits: 21:33

Scope creep in audits: 26:16

How Kruze handles a decentralized workforce: 28:42

Scott’s thoughts on crypto accounting: 34:06

Why you shouldn’t manage your company on a day to day basis: 38:37

How Patrick Corker of Circle grew his team during a pandemic Mar 10, 2022

Show notes

Alex speaks with Patrick Corker about how he scaled his team during a pandemic and Circle's upcoming strategic initiatives.

Time Stamps:

4:30: How Circle’s finance team has evolved

6:47: Patrick’s day to day responsibilities

9:00: Circle’s major strategic initiatives

13:08: How Circle adapted to challenges caused by the pandemic

17:53: The activity Patrick wishes he could spend more time on

23:14: The value of encouraging employees to ask questions

26:01: The importance of educating your auditors

28:50: Crypto accounting pitfalls to avoid

31:00: How Patrick views internal hiring vs outsourcing

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Recession-Proof – a podcast by Ramp

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected